The Lady Awaits a Broken Engagement

Chapter 7

Wrapping up her train of thought, Savina finally asked, “When are you planning on hiring a new tutor?”

Benjamin considered her question for a moment. “Since I cannot think of a good candidate at the moment, I think it would be best if you took a break from your lessons for the time being. Unfortunately, I will be very busy until the prince’s arrival.”

Busy? Why? Perhaps reading the confusion on her face, the duke clasped his hands together before going on to explain.

“I wish to handle all of the family events that I have been putting off before our guest arrives. I will be having a small meal with Lady Annabelle in four days’ time, and Fabian will be returning to the manor soon.”

“Did you say… Fabian?” she asked in poorly disguised shock.

Fabian was Savina’s cousin and Benjamin’s son. You see, after what happened with Liam Charlot, Benjamin had married and had a child with a lady from a powerful noble family, as if he wished to emphasize how much he differed from his brother. Sadly, the marriage did not last long.

Soon after giving birth to Fabian, Benjamin’s wife passed away from the plague, and Benjamin spent the next ten years alone. However, House Charlot couldn’t go too long without a duchess. This, along with Simon’s continued nagging, had pushed Benjamin to pursue remarriage… and Lady Annabelle was one of his top candidates.

This lady was the only daughter of House Maria among many brothers. Coincidentally, she had also been widowed a few years prior. She had a daughter who was around Savina’s age, which may have been a disadvantage to her in the context of remarriage. However, Benjamin also had two children belonging to House Charlot, which served to level the playing field.

According to the maids, she had been incredibly popular among the socialites due to her beauty. In this manner, Lady Annabelle was similar to Benjamin, who also had a strikingly handsome face that was youthful enough to hide the fact that he was old enough to have a child.

Savina’s great-great-grandmother, Leonora, had been a beautiful lady in her younger days. In fact, her beauty was so great that she was known as the most beautiful woman in the Caesario Empire at the time. Fortunately, all of her descendants had inherited her good looks, which meant that House Charlot was also well-known for the same trait. This was probably one of the biggest reasons why Madam Clarissa had pursued Liam for so long. Even Fabian, who was only thirteen, had a handsome, defined face. Unfortunately, the mind that was contained in his body was nothing short of demonic.

I didn’t think that Fabian would be returning as well. As previously established, Savina was constantly ignored by everyone in the family, which included a certain young Charlot. Fabian never hesitated to make his distaste for her incredibly obvious, as if he thought that his “pure” noble bloodline made him better than her. For instance, it was the norm for him to blame her for things that she hadn’t even been involved in.

Perhaps he did not realize, or care, that Savina was already being harassed left and right. Fortunately, things had gotten better for her after Fabian began attending the academy. He was only home for a couple of months at a time for his breaks, which meant that her life was relatively peaceful as long as she stayed in her room during those months.

In fact, perhaps she owed Fabian a gesture of gratitude. Thanks to him, she was now accustomed to being in her room all day, which was what she would have to do while the prince was staying with them.

Benjamin’s response to her question broke her out of her musings. “Yes. He will take a leave of absence from the academy and stay at the manor while the prince is here.”

“But… doesn’t that mean his graduation will be delayed?” she asked.

“That is true, but it is only polite for him to greet the prince when he visits.”

Savina snorted to herself. I knew you’d say something like that. After all, Fabian was the “real” child of Duke Charlot. It was only natural for him to converse with the prince of the empire. The clear distinction between them irked her, even though the situation was beneficial for her.

“You will attend the dinner with Lady Annabelle in four days. I will be introducing everybody in the family to her,” continued Benjamin, as if he had no idea what his previous statement had implied. “It shouldn’t take too much of your time.”

Savina nodded politely. “Of course. I will make sure to behave so that Lady Annabelle feels welcome.”

Upon hearing her response, Benjamin simply stared at her for a long moment, then looked away to his left. “All right, then,” he nodded. “You are dismissed.”

Savina bowed to him, then turned around to walk out of the room. The doors closed behind her, shutting her off from Benjamin. Instead of walking away from the office doors immediately, she glanced at the spot where Benjamin would be sitting.

After a moment of silence, she muttered under her breath, “Would it have killed you to ask me if I was all right?”

It was a bitter sentence that she would never dare to say to Benjamin’s face. Pressing her lips together, she shook her head and turned away from the doors.

I didn’t know that I could be so foolish. She should know better than to expect such things.

“Don’t you dare use that hand to hit her, Madam Clarissa. I want you out of this room.”

If Savina hadn’t been hallucinating, that’s what Benjamin had said when he stormed into the room to stop Madam Clarissa. He had almost looked angry, as if he was defending her. But now she knew that it had all been a misunderstanding on her part. He was angry because one of the employees had dared to step out of line. There was nothing more.

She gave both of her cheeks a light slap. Maybe Benjamin had decided, for some reason, to act like they were a real family. Regardless, she didn’t have the time to waste thinking about it. After all, the prince—the one that she had turned into a cold-blooded murderer—was on his way to kill her.

* * *

Not too long after, the rest of the manor found out that Madam Clarissa had been fired. For Savina, it all happened so quickly that all those years of being bullied by Madam Clarissa almost felt like some fever dream. She heard rumors of Madam Clarissa’s father visiting the manor in order to change the duke’s mind, but Benjamin remained resolute.

Considering that Simon didn’t raise any objections, it seemed like the previous duke did not have any complaints regarding Madam Clarissa’s fate. In a way, this made sense. What Simon wanted was to turn his unsophisticated granddaughter into a proper lady. But of course, he was angry about a tutor causing an “imperfection” on her.

Reaching this conclusion, Savina silently stared at her blistered knees. “I guess I should thank her for hitting me,” she muttered.

Hearing this, Melissa flinched while applying ointment to her burns. Perhaps the maid had taken her musings as a sort of warning. After Madam Clarissa’s dismissal, the maids at the manor became noticeably polite toward Savina. They had obeyed her orders before, of course, but it had all been cold and professional. Now, it was like they were actually trying to please her.

Maybe they were afraid that Savina would report their previous insolence to the duke, just like what she had done for Madam Clarissa. In a way, Madam Clarissa’s fate had served as an example and a lesson to the other employees, since Benjamin had made it perfectly clear that he would not tolerate any kind of disrespect to the Charlots.

However, Savina knew that the employees were shocked by something else: The fact that she was considered to be a part of the Charlots at all.

Savina tried to assuage Melissa’s fears. “Don’t be so nervous,” she said. “You didn’t treat me so terribly, you know.”

Melissa paused and stared up at Savina with shock in her eyes. “M-my lady?” she stuttered.

Truthfully, Savina wanted to tell her that there was no reason to be so terrified. In fact, her opinion of Melissa had become more positive after the incident. She had been shocked when Melissa rushed to treat her burns right in front of Madam Clarissa, especially considering just how emotionless she had always acted around her lady.

But…

“Isn’t it funny how everybody’s acting like I’ve suddenly turned into a noble lady?” Savina said, staring at Melissa coolly. “Oh… I wonder how things will change once I’m exiled to the annex.”

It had been a pleasant surprise when Melissa took her side instead of Madam Clarissa’s, but that was about it. Nothing had changed. She knew that Melissa would continue to turn a blind eye to lesser injustices, just like she had always done.

“There’s no need to become a completely different person, Melissa,” she continued. “It’s not like I have the power to punish you.”

Melissa hung her head, staring at the floor. She had been Savina’s personal maid for about a year now, serving as a replacement for the last maid who decided to return to her hometown. However, Savina had never told her about how she truly felt. Perhaps Melissa now felt ashamed by how Savina had finally decided to expose her cowardly nature, for she began to tremble.

“I’m so sorry, my lady!” she suddenly yelled, then lifted her gaze from the floor, revealing the tears in her eyes. “I-I’ve been feeling terrible about everything. I felt so anxious whenever you got hurt… At some point, I tried reporting everything to Madam Vanessa, but…”

Vanessa was the head maid who oversaw the inner workings of the manor alongside Oliver, the butler.

“S-she just told me to ignore it. She said it wasn’t a big deal… to keep my mouth shut so that nothing would happen…”

Sobbing, Melissa wiped the tears from her eyes. The neglect directed toward Savina had extended far beyond Madam Clarissa and Melissa. For the past few years, most of the employees at the manor had avoided Savina like the plague, probably fearing that some misfortune would befall them if they tried to take care of the love child of House Charlot. However, perhaps somebody in the manor had a kind heart and felt pity for a young girl who had no choice but to live with her uncle.

When Melissa managed to look at Savina again, her eyes were colored with guilt and fear. “My lady… I’m so sorry,” she said, groveling. “I didn’t think that things would get so bad, I swear! I promise that something like this will never happen again. I’ll never do anything to hurt you…”

Melissa sounded desperate as she continued to plead.